The Stories of Boys (and two girls!): Summer Adventures

It really was a busy summer, but I don't have many pictures to prove it!

Caleb and Luke took swim lessons, and Caleb finally took off with his swimming skills. He is doing great and has come so far in two years when he wouldn't even put his face in the water. Luke did really well during lessons, but he wasn't ready to go without his life jacket after lessons.

Matt had a convention in Colorado, and he spent a couple of extra days there mountain biking in Estes Park. He had a great time exploring and came home with lots of bumps and bruises from his adventure. The same week, Joshua stayed with Andrew's family while Caleb stayed with Jake's family. Mom and I decided to take a little adventure of our own. We headed to the Wilderness of the Smokies, the resort with an indoor water park. We wanted to check it out and see if the whole family would enjoy it. It was a great place. I can't wait to take everyone back, maybe next year.

Matt and I celebrated our 13th anniversary, but with everything else going on, we weren't able to do much. We did manage a date night to celebrate our anniversary and our letter of approval from China...we went to P.F. Changs and walked around the mall for a while.

We had VBS, and we ended with a swimming party/cookout at Matt's dad's house. The kids had a blast!

To finish up our summer, we had Jake/Jenna up for their annual visit while Danny and Kim went lobster diving in the Keys. It's always fun to have them up, and we are all worn out by the end of the week. We signed Jake and Caleb up for Lego Engineering Camp, so they were occupied all day during the week. They loved it. So, with the other kids, we spent the day in Helen/Cleveland, or swimming, or at the Mall. It was quite an adventure for us having a little girl in the house. We are used to drama, our boys have plenty of that, but it was the emotion that really threw us for a loop! Matt got on to Jenna one time, and she started crying. Matt and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. He was able to comfort her and life moved on. We laughed about it later.

Lastly, Matt's dad bought a small boat. It has enough power to pull a tube, so we were able to take it to the lake and pull the kids around. Chet and his family came up, and we had a picnic and played on the beach and watched the boat go back and forth. The kids loved it and everyone was worn out and pink by the end of the day.